Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 83: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

74 never supposed men went to such trouble and expense for a mere flower.” He looked at me mourntully a mo- ment and then branched off to another subject. But the next time I sat with him he returned naturally to his favorite topic, and took a folded paper from his pocket. “ I borrowed the map from the pro- fessor to show you,” he said. I examined the map. It was a rudely drawn chart of a region into which I had never penetrated, and therefore the accuracy of it was beyond my judg- ment. But it seemed to have been drawn by a man who knew the place. There was the source of the Tapajos, marked in small letters. Mountains were shaped, forests indicated by pic- tures of trees, small streams outlined, and in one spot a great black ring showed where the Great Royal Or- chids might be found. I handed the map to Mr. Hebard, thanking him. In fact it told me noth- ing. When we had reached the head of navigation on the Tapajos, where the river narrowed perceptibly, and our propress was interrupted by a fall, the yacht was anchored. And here the completeness of the outfit became ap- parent. Among the boats carried by the Fiora was a launch about twenty five feet in length, driven by a four horse power gasoline engine. The tank con- taining the gasoline was inside the bow, and Mr. Hebard assured me that she carried fuel enough for a run of two thousand miles. The four horse power engine consumed only four pints of gasoline an hour. The launch was floated to the shore and taken from the water by the crew of the Flora. It was carried above the fall and again placed in its natural ele- ment. The crew returned to the yacht, all save two men who were to operate the launch. . A great store of food stuffs was J THE ARGOSY. placed aboard, and the four spectacled gentlemen took their places. Not one of them carried a gun. “ But look here,” I said to Hebard, “you surely are not going to venture into a savage country without fire- arms! ”’ “ We are not sure that it is a savage country,” he replied. “ The explorer saw Indians, but did not say they were Savages.” ‘“ But there are surely wild beasts, if not wild men,” I said. ‘‘ Have you no guns on board the Flora?” “ Oh, yes, plenty, but we are not ex- pert in the use of them. ‘They were more for the use of the crew in defend- ing the yacht from attack.” “ Well, there are two men here who can shoot, and Desklit and I make two more. Suppose we take four rifles with the necessary ammunition.” “ Very well, I think myself, it is not a bad plan.” So four rifles were secured from the yacht. Unfortunately the guns brought from New York by Desklit and myself had either gone down in the Wing, or had been stolen by Pence and his gang. Having armed ourselves, we set out in the launch. We journeyed about eighty miles that day in the launch, and camped at night in a thick woods near the shore. Nothing disturbed our rest, though we heard the howls of jaguars in the forest. The next day we proceeded for a hundred miles and then cdme to the end of all navigation. The expedition must now proceed on foot. With the map to guide them the orchid hunters set out in a northwest- erly direction, happily chancing upon a path through the jungle, thus mak- ing progress easy. We had several small adventures on that trip. A huge tiger cat was quietly resting in a tree as we passed under and disturbed her. With a growl she reached down with her right paw and tore Miss Wisdom’s hat from her head. COM ElOOO eco